[Review] Fool Me Twice by Mandy Hubbard

Buy on Amazon or the Book Depository

Title: Fool Me Twice

Author: Mandy Hubbard [ Facebook | Twitter | Website ]

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Genre: Young Adult- Contemporary Fiction, Romance

Release Date: May 6, 2014

Source: advance copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review – review policy here.

Synopsis via Goodreads:

Mackenzie and Landon were the perfect couple . . . until he dumped her and broke her heart. Fast-forward a year and they're back where they first met—Serenity Ranch and Spa, where they are once again working together for the summer. Talk about awkward.

Then, Landon takes a nasty fall and gets amnesia. Suddenly, he’s stuck in the past—literally. His most recent memory is of last summer, when he and Mack were still together, so now he’s calling her pet names and hanging all over her. It's the perfect chance for revenge. The plan is simple: keep Landon at arm’s length, manipulate him so he’s the one falling love, and then BAM, dump him. There’s just one problem: Mack can’t fall for Landon all over again.

If you're looking for a light, summer read interspersed with laughs and swoons then this is the read for you! Crafted like a teenage romantic comedy it's easy to envision a young Amanda Bynes and Zac Efron playing summer romance at a Dirty Dancing-esque resort. 

Mack and Landon are exes working together in the horse stables for the summer, which leads to Mack's heart being tortured because she hasn't really moved on from their abrupt break-up when school resumed. Peppered with comments of a Grease like experience having gone down. Ouch. It's when Landon falls from a horse and experience short-term memory loss that Mack and her BFF Bailey plan out a summer of pranks/revenge to get pay back on the hurt Landon rolled out.

"I might not be hurting his heart just yet,
but at least I got to his wallet."

Guuuurrrllll, we all know, this is not going to end well... 

While a very cute read, loaded with pop culture references and movie quotes, it was painfully predictable. I called the ending by the time the first prank went off, which coasted my reading into anticipation of swoons, laughs and feels. I had a few nostalgic LOL moments that made the read worth it.

In the end if you're searching for a light, fun read you can finish at the beach... read it! I think I would enjoy this much more as a movie to add to my collection of teen rom-coms including "She's The Man", "What a Girl Wants", "John Tucker Must Die" and the like.  

Lesson of the Read: Always be yourself, you just might surprise someone. Including yourself.

[Review] Boys Like You by Juliana Stone

Buy on Amazon or the Book Depository

Title: Boys Like You

Author: Juliana Stone [ Facebook | Twitter | Website ]

Publisher: Sourcebooks

Genre: Young Adult- Contemporary Fiction, Romance

Release Date: May 6, 2014

Source: advance copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review – review policy here.

Synopsis via Goodreads:

For Monroe Blackwell, one small mistake has torn her family apart –leaving her empty and broken. There’s a hole in her heart that nothing can fill. That no one can fill. And a summer in Louisiana with her Grandma isn’t going to change that…

Nathan Everets knows heartache first-hand when a car accident leaves his best friend in a coma. And it’s his fault. He should be the one lying in the hospital. The one who will never play guitar again. He doesn’t deserve forgiveness, and a court-appointed job at the Blackwell B&B isn’t going to change that…

Captivating and hopeful, this achingly poignant novel brings together two lost souls struggling with grief and guilt – looking for acceptance, so they can find forgiveness.

A heartbreakingly awesome story... 

Told from alternating points of view, Monroe and Nate are struggling in equally dark places while trying to stay afloat on a day-to-day basis. Each chapter gives insight into how relationships can be safety net when guilt becomes too much to bare. As their relationship grows with each other they find that no one is perfect and everyone hurts, but it hurts less with someone by your side. 

"There was nothing but the need to connect to someone so badly I felt it ache in every part of my body."

Oh the swoons, there are great romance scenes with some heavy kisses. Loved it! Juliana Stone writes adult romance as well, so you definitely see a mature writing style transition into this story. As an adult reader I appreciated the nostalgia of young love, sneaking out at night, hot summers, and the adventure of discovering someone new for the first time. There are references to sex and there's positive sex! It's so exciting when YA shows examples of a positive/consent sexual relationship that is written with such care and all the swoons. And it's so much more than a romance... so. much. more.

The pacing of the book is quick and keeps you on your toes as secrets are unveiled like layers of an onion. Showing that we all make mistakes, Nate navigates an unhealthy romantic relationship, while struggling with the guilt of his near-fatal mistake. Monroe's fatal mistake has led her to Louisiana as a last ditch effort to rejoin society. There are so many feels here, and tears! As the core is unveiled Stone's storytelling incited approx. three sob sessions. 

The relationship building between the teens and adults was a major high point throughout the story. While Nate and Monroe form their own relationship it leads them to strengthening the bonds they've lost with the adults in their lives that have been searching for them amongst the debris of disaster. These were by far the heaviest scenes, showcasing the strength in Monroe and Nate's bond, and ability to push each other out of their respective black holes. 

Overall, this read is equal parts romance and issues with our protagonists winning out in the end, making for a solid summer read. 

"She was burned into my skin like a tattoo, and I would carry her with me forever." 

Stacking the Shelves #6 - April 27 – May 3, 2014

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews

Exciting week, lots of mail and a few digital ARCs. At the time I'm writing this, Goodreads is down!! All the book lovers have been in mass panic and withdraws, including yours truly. 

Bonus: In support of #WeNeedDiverseBooks, I've marked this week's haul with any diversity tags that I'm aware of. If I missed any feel free to leave a comment. 

In The Mail

Landline by Rainbow Rowell – ARC won via Shelf Awareness Giveaway and St. Martin's Press 

Going Over by Beth Kephart – finished copy won from Heather @ Fly Leaf Review and Chronicle Books [#WeNeedDiverseBooks = Political Beliefs]

One Man Guy – ARC from Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Macmillan [#WeNeedDiverseBooks = Ethnic Diversity, Sexual Orientation]

Defector (Variants #2) by Susanne Winnacker – ARC provided by Razorbill/Penguin Books for Book Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours, look for my review on June 26!

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng – ARC provided by Penguin Books via the Goodreads First Reads program [#WeNeedDiverseBooks = Ethnic Diversity]

Digital ARCs

Copy provided by Swoon Romance for YA Bound Book Tour, check out my post on June 2! [#WeNeedDiverseBooks = Adoption/NonTraditional Family]

 

 

#WeNeedDiverseBooks = Socio-Economics, Mental Illness

#WeNeedDiverseBooks = Ethnic Diversity, Inter-racial Relationship

 

#WeNeedDiverseBooks = listed as having a multicultural cast of characters 

#WeNeedDiverseBooks = Author Ethnic Diversity

Library

I'm really trying to cut down on my library hauls because I'm behind on ARC reading... womp, womp! But I did pick up Alienated by Melissa Landers, because I'm addicted to the CW TV show Star-Crossed and so this was recommended to me. 

What's new on your shelf this week?

What are your diverse picks for #WeNeedDiverseBooks?

2014 Book Blogger Summer Reading Program!

This event is hosted by Katie over at Katie's Book Blog so mosey on over there if you're interested in participating.

 

May 1 - August 31, 2014
Sign-Up at Katie's Book Blog by linky with an intro post of Goodreads shelf.

Rules:

• Your goal can be as low as 5 books (at least 5 though) and as high as 50+.  Just make it realistic for you!
• You can read whatever you want. Doesn’t matter when it’s published, what genre, etc. Just read what you enjoy!
• Create a post or shelf on Goodreads to track your progress. Link to that post or shelf in the linky.

---

My Goal is 20 books!

Check out the full list on Goodreads :)

Summer Challenge Book List

Boys Like You

by Juliana Stone

The Immortal Crown

by Richelle Mead

Gameboard of the Gods

by Richelle Mead

Fool Me Twice

by Mandy Hubbard

Chantress

by Amy Butler Greenfield

What are you reading this summer?

[Review] Gorgeous by Paul Rudnick

Buy on Amazon or the Book Depository
Now available in paperback!

Title: Gorgeous

Author: Paul Rudnick 

Publisher: Scholastic Books

Genre: Young Adult- Contemporary Fiction, Romance, Fairy Tale

Release Date: April 30, 2013 - April 29, 2014 paperback

Source: copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review – review policy here.

Synopsis via Goodreads:

Eighteen-year-old Becky Randle is an ordinary girl who receives an impossible offer. She meets Tom Kelly, the world's top designer, and he promises to create three dresses to transform her from a nothing-special girl into the Most Beautiful Woman Who Ever Lived.

Becky thinks Tom is a lunatic, or that he's producing a hidden camera show called World's Most Gullible Poor People. But she accepts, and she's remade as Rebecca. When Becky looks in the mirror, she sees herself -- an awkward mess of split ends and cankles. But when anyone else looks at Becky, they see pure five-alarm hotness.

Soon Rebecca is on the cover of Vogue and the new Hollywood darling. Then she meets Prince Gregory, heir to the British throne, and everything starts to crumble. Because Rebecca aside, Becky loves him. But to love her back, Gregory would have to look past the blinding Rebecca to see the real girl inside. And for that, there's not enough magic in the world.

I have a confession to make... I almost DNF'd this at around 10% because Becky and I were not meshing. At all. I'm going to start with my biggest beef so we can move on to what I adored about this read. This is the thing about Becky, it is made very clear that she is trailer trash from podunk land Missouri. I don't know Missouri but I'm from podunk Texas so it's got to be close. Becky and Rebecca both use words or know things, with no explanation, that just do not fit their character for a story told in first person. 

Such as:

How does she randomly know the area codes of NYC?

Brocade covered couch (What the heck is brocade?)

Damask pillows (I don't think they have these at the Super Shop-A-Lot.)

Camellias (Is she a botany expert? What the heck is a Camellias?)

Apothecary jars (Yeah, this generation didn't experience pharmacies that had soda and candy counters.)

I could go on but you get my point... It was distracting but eventually I got over it. 

When I checked Goodreads 'Gorgeous' had been shelved as Romance and Contemporary Lit, along with some Fantasy. To me it reads more fairy tale-ish with a combination of Cinderella and Aladdin set against the fashion/celebrity worlds of NYC and London, and I love it. 

 

What I Loved:

1) Rocher. She is the ultimate sidekick- funny, witty and comes with uber-quotable dialogue which will make you LOL. She does curse like a sailor but that's what makes her the BFF and not the star. Homegirl is named after a french candy so she has to be spunky, it can't be easy.

2) The Clothes: I know I couldn't see it but I could. I wish I could draw because I would launch a whole fashion line inspired by Tom Kelly's designs for Rebecca.

3) The Feels. These are not major feels so no need for tissue, but instead Rudnick gives us family feels and really gives meaning to home is where the heart is as both Rebecca and Prince Charming Gregory navigate family issues. While there are definitely cutesy-romantic feels they pale in comparison to Rebecca's connection to her parents and Gregory's mom.

4) Prince Gregory's One Liners. 

"The crown Jewels," said the prince, "and I don't know why,
but every time I say that I feel I should be unzipping my fly."

"Because when I'm with you, I'm the pretty one."

5) The Fairy Tale Elements Okay, I wasn't prepared for this so when it happened I was like... wahhh? But, then I got it and was like, huh, didn't know this was going there but then I liked the story that much more. Somehow it made it all more believable, a happy surprise if you will.

3 Stars: So in the end I heart Becky and this could totally be a movie. The fairy tale spin made it. Definitely worth borrowing. I've also heard great things about the audiobook version.